Etymograph

English

easy

Easy comes from Middle English esy ‘comfortable, pleasant’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esy‘comfortable’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1697easy

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esy‘comfortable’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1697easy

Earliest quotation: 1697, Virgil, (please specify the book number): “He gain'd their easy hearts.”

Formed from ease + -y

Old French eise ‘elbow room; opportunity’

Anglo-Norman ese ‘ease’

Middle English ese

English ease

The story

Merged with Middle English ethe, eathe (‘easy’), from Old English īeþe, from Proto-Germanic *auþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwtus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- (‘to enjoy, consume’).

Linked words

through Middle English ese ‘ease’

ease, 1 more

through Middle English esy ‘with ease’

easily, 1 more

Today it means

adj Comfortable; at ease.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Middle English esy / easy

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